While attempts may have been made by the PDP in Cross River State to manipulate, even dictate the tempo of th Ward Congresses taking place on Saturday, November 1, 2014, www.calitown.com investigations reveal that unless highly placed party officials retrace their steps, there may be a major political crisis in the state, before and after the Congress.
First, officials of the party are thought to have gone to the party’s National secretariat and obtained the delegates form in the believe that only the party at the state can make available the delegates nomination form. It is even speculated that the state party Secretary, acting on the instruction of the party’s hierarchy, collected the forms in Abuja and brought same to Calabar. The whereabouts of the form are uncertain as at press time.
However, in a full paged advert on page 23 of the Leadership newspaper of Wednesday, October 30, 2014 and signed by Abubakar Mustapha, National Organising Secretary of the PDP, the headquarters of the party has insisted that, ” All completed forms should be submitted to the State Headquarters of the party, latest by midnight, Thursday, October 30, 2014″. Perhaps unknown to the party in Abuja, most people interested in seeking to be delegates in the Congresses in the state are yet to see the forms in the party’s possession in CRS, barely hours to the end of submission.
While the advert explicitly said, “…all interested aspirants for the. 3 Ad-hoc Delegates who have completed and submitted their Nomination Forms should not under any circumstance be excluded from participation in the Ward Congresses taking place on Saturday, November 1, 2014”, it appears to be cue that has seen several politicians in the state troop to Abuja to obtain a large number of the forms for distribution to those interested in contesting as delegates, making nonsense of the initial plan of the state PDP to issue the nomination forms to intending delegates of their choice.
Those who have obtained and filled the forms have been seen photocopying them before turning in the original copies in before today’s deadline.
One top PDP source who spoke with www.calitown.com insisted that “the time has come for all of us to go to the field, if you are on ground, come to the field”. Another was quick to observe that, “the whole problem will begin when they refuse to collect the forms we will submit. This our PRO who has been making announcements on state radio is only dancing to the drums of his masters, it is no more business as usual and please you people should tell our governor that there is life after now, all these things that he is doing will in the long run give him a bad name”.
Attempts by www.calitown.com to speak with the state party Secretary, Goddy Ettah, proved abortive as the network constantly gave the “Call not Allowed” feedback.
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